SME Commercial Banking Intern Review

Really good, I was exposed to so much and have learnt so much about the company. As it is a 10 week placement you are not set specific tasks that have to be done each day, instead I had projects to work on and the rest I was left to my own devices. Once I had built a network of people my manager was happy for me to travel as I wanted to go and get a feel for other parts of the business which has been amazing in terms of the depth I have learnt.

I felt valued by my colleagues in terms of when I would say 'I'm just an intern', they would correct me and say 'not just'! That was really nice and a sign that they do value you. However, I would have liked to have done some more solid work to prove myself a little more. I think because it is such a short placement you can't actually have huge impact on their work, however, should this have been longer I am sure I would have had the opportunity.

There isn't one manager who would really turn you down should you ask for help. I only saw my manager once a week and as he holds a pretty high position in the bank it can be hard to ask him for support. However, I had one-to-ones with people that weren't my line manager and everyone who spoke to me really did care about my future and supported me with all work that I did. Providing guidance and support whenever you needed it. I felt that all supervisors and managers genuinely cared about my career and would do anything they could to see me succeed.

I had work to do however it can be under evaluated by managers in terms of how long it would take. However, providing you use your time well it can be hugely valuable. A lot of my time was spent getting to know others in the business and it is up to you to gain information form them. Building a good network means that not only do you get recognition within the bank, but also opens up the scope for learning. A lot of managers have spent hours from their day sitting down with me and teaching me what they do. Although this can be pretty far from your role, it is so useful and interesting to see all the different aspects of the bank.

I wasn't given too much responsibility as it was only a ten week placement therefore they cannot really teach you enough to give you hard responsibilities. However, I was exposed to some large stakeholders and was given a lot of trust in terms of confidential information. I believe that should I have been in the internship for the long run, there would have been more scope for this.

I have learnt generally how businesses work and a lot about management and what happy employees need. I have also become a lot more organised. Lloyds focus on charities a lot and want interns to get involved with this. Therefore, I have coordinated two charity events, one was a charity lunch where I needed to talk to external businesses and plan a lunch for 50+ people. This has been good in terms of event management.

The office is very quiet as people work remotely from time to time and also they are all client facing roles so aim for 50% of the time to be out visiting clients. However, this is quite nice as it means that it is a hub for lots of different people, so you get to meet everyone. Everyone who is based in the office is always so helpful and supporting. I found that people that would be there most of the week would almost take me on and act as if they were my manager just in terms of support.

I felt it was really well organised. When I started they said what they wanted me to get involved in and this was followed through and I have done all of this and more. When I started all interns went for an induction that was really well organised and was a great chance to meet all other interns. By day 3 I had my laptop which in the grand scheme of things is pretty impressive seen as they have 300+ interns starting that week!

100%!! The amount of hours of others people's time that was spent coaching me was incredible! People that had no connection to me, but were just in the same office, would be more than happy to spend an hour with you explaining their role and how they fit into the business. If you are eager to learn then Lloyds won't let you down!

Really appealing. Lloyds have enough graduate places for every intern that applies. You have a meeting in the final two weeks of your placement to discuss if you have made it onto here. You know what is expected in order to make it on the grad scheme and should you ask for any help with ensuring you are ready for the grad interview they are more than happy to help.

Unfortunately I was the only intern in my building, however, this is rare and usually there are more. In saying this, my manager linked me up to another grad near by soon after I joined should I want to meet with her. There were lots of opportunities to socialise with other interns if you lived in London or any other of the big cities.

Pretty cheap as I lived in Somerset in the South West. Lloyds try to place you where you live or if not will help you find accommodation should you need it. As I was able to live at home with my parents I was able to live very cheaply.

Not really but this was at my choice as I asked to live at home in Somerset. If I wanted to go further away from my house I could have easily had a better nightlife and probably meet up with others who worked at Lloyds.

Lloyds do lots of charity events and 'give and gain' days. These are days where you can go out in the community with others in your team and likewise with charity events. However, there weren't really that many out of office activities but I believe this is just because where I was placed. If I would have completed my internship in a bigger city I am sure this would have been different.